Automatic transmission



R. M. NARDONE 2,014,662

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION Filed Nov. 28, 1935 2 sheets-sheet 1 Y Romeo MNardo/7e Sept. 17, 1935.

ATTORNEY.

Sept. 17, 1935.l R. M. NARDONE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION Filed Nov.` 28,1955 K 1N VEN TOR. Rom e0 M /Va/"a70/7 e A TTORNEY Patented Sept. 17,1935 --UNi'rED STATES APA'IENT OFFICEl AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION Romeo M.Nardone, Eastv Orange, N. J., assig'nor to Eclipse' AviationCorporation, East Orange, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationNovember 28, 1933, Serial No. 700,157 ,12 Claims. (Cl. 747336) 'I'hisinvention relates to transmission mechanisms and more particularly to anautomatic variable speed transmission mechanism.

'Ihe transmission shown and described herein is somewhat similar to thetransmission shown. in my co-pending application Serial No.V 617,887,filed June 17, 1932, wherein the invention is broadly claimed. Y Thepresent application differs therefrom principally in the arrangement ofthe low speed gear mechanism vand the means whereby the intermediategeartrain is disconnected.

An object of the inventionY is to provide an automatic variable speedtransmission in which the selection of the various speed ratios isresponsive to load at constant speeds and responsive to speed atconstant loads, or in other words, a torque and speed responsivetransmission.

Another object of the invention is to provide a three speed Iautomatictransmission in which the high speed driving means is disengaged by thelow speed devices and the intermediate speed driving means is disengagedby a separate device operated by the low speed' gear means.

Another object of the-invention is to provide a transmission with anovel countershaft with which the second speed disconnecting means isassociated.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic transmissionwith two friction clutcheswhereby the driving and driven shafts areconnected, each of which is responsive to ,speed and load.

Another object of the invention is to provide a variable speedtransmission with a novel countershaft upon which is mountedlcentrifugal `and torque responsive mechanism for controlling at leastone of the gear changes. Y

Otherobjects and features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description in connection-with which a preferred embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a transmission illustrating the improvedtransmission;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of Vthe second speed gear overrunning clutchtaken alongthe line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the low speed overrunning clutch takenalong the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmental view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating the positionof the low speed overrunning clutch in its operating position.

Referring to the drawings, the transmission housing is shown at I- inwhich the driving shaft II is rotatably mounted by bearing I2 andcarries on itsinner end a clutch hub I3 upon which are slidably mountedfrictional -driving plates I4 interposed between similar drivenfrictional 5 plates I6 which are splined to the yhigh speed 1 clutchhousing I1. The clutch is controlled by centrifugal weights I8 which inthe driving positionv contact. pressure plates I9 and force th/ drivingand driven plates into contact and fric- 10 tionally connect the clutchhousing I1 to the driving shaft II. Clutch housing I1 is splined at 2|to the tubular driven shaft 22 that is rotatably mounted upon thedriving shaft 23 that is connected to hub I3 by pin 24, the opposite endof 15 shaft 23 being rotatably mounted in propeller shaft 26 by bearing21.

Second'speed gear 28 is connected to driven shaft 22 through anoverrunning clutch 29, which connects the hub 32 with the toothedportion 33 20` through rollers 3| whenthe toothed portion becomes/thedriving member to rotate the gear in a4 clockwise direction, as viewedin Fig'. 2, but pei'- mits the hub 32 to overrun the outer member in thesame direction. Hub 32 is provided with a 25 threaded portion 34 andcoacts with a threaded nut 36 having a splined connection with thedriven shaft 22 at 31. Nut 36 is movable axially along shaft 22 andcarries a member 38 adapted to contact the noses 39 of we1ghts I8 30 andforce them to their inner position when uut 36 is moved toward the leftagainst the tension of spring 40, as viewed in Fig. l., The pitch o'fnut 36 is such' as to be moved toward the left when the second speedvgear 28 becomes the driv- 35 ing member. i

The low speed gear 42 is connected to driven shaftv 22 through anoverrunning clutch 43 of somewhat different design which comprisesrollers 44 having slight angular movement with 40 respect to the toothedmember 46 by reason of the supporting pin 41 which is movable in slots48. l Hub 5I is provided with cam portions 52 that are out of 4contactwith rollers 44 in the over running position illustrated in Fig. 3 andwhich 45 coact with the rollers to connect the toothed portion 46 withthe hub 5I in the driving position, as shown in Fig. 4. The low speedoverrunning clutch, as above described, forms the subject matter ofco-pending application Serial No. 644,497, 50 filed November 26, 1932 byFrancis Linder, and is not claimed in the present.` application per se.The hub 5I of the low speed gear -is provided with a threaded portion 53which coacts With nut 36 to force the same toward the left, as viewed inFig. 1, 55

which is slidable toward the left to connect member 54 with propellershaft 26 for direct drive in any one of the above described threeforward speeds, and is slidable toward the right to engage idler gear6I, for the reverse drive gear 6I is in constant mesh with gear 65secured to the countershaft 61.

The driving shaft I I is provided with a gear 64 that meshes with gear66 secured to the countershaft 61 which is rotatably mounted in case I0by bearing 68. Gear 66 is provided with a tubular extension 69 withinwhich is mounted a spring lll.,A adapted to engage collar 12 andcompress spiral spring 13 through thrust bearing 83. Spring 13 has itsinner surface splined to sleeve 14 which prevents the individual coilsfrom rotating relatively to one another and causes the coils to expandradially upon an application of axial pressure, to frictionally connectgear 16 to the tubular extension 69. Y 'I'he initial compression ofspring 10 is such as to overcome the force of clutch spring 13 and tocause the same to frictionally connect gear 16 to gear 66. Low speedgear 18 is connected to the countershaft 61 through a slidable nut 19having a splined connection with counter-shaft 61 and a threadedconnection with the low speed gear hub 8l. The pitch of the thread issuch that a load on gear 18 will force nut 19 toward the left, as viewedin Fig. 1, to engage the flanged end 82 of sleeve 14 and force itagainst thrust bearing 83 to relieve the pressure of spring 10. A member84 is secured to the countershaft 61 by nut 1I upon which are pivotallymounted centrifugal weights 86 adapted to move outwardly by centrifugalforce and engage 'ange 81 which is adjustably secured to shaft 88.

Ihe arrangement of the weights 86 is such as to cause shaft 86 to movetoward the right at high speeds and engage pin 89 to move the sametoward the right and augment the force of spring 10.

In the operation of the device, the high speed drive is accomplished asfollows: Weights I8 are in their outer position, driving shaft I I isdirectly connected to driven shaft 22 by means of clutch plates I4 andI6I, and the drive is taken to the propeller shaft 26 by means of gear59 which is assumed to have been moved toward the left to engage member54.

Intermediate speed drive-If during the operation of the transmission,the load upon the high speed clutch should be greater than thefrictional capacity of plates I4 and I6, they will slip relative to oneanother and cause second speed gear 28 to transmit a portion ofthefdriving load whereupon nut 36 will move toward the left to disengageweights I8 and the drive will be taken f through the intermediate speedmechanism by means of gear 64, gear 66, sleeve 69, gear 16, gear 28, nut36, and shaft 22, it being previously stated that the initialcompression of spring 18 is suflicient to transmit torque between sleeve69 and gear 16.

Low speed drive- If the load on the intermediate speed gear mechanismshould be great enough to overcome the frictional resistance of spring13, gear 16 and gear 66 will move relatively to one another, whereupon.gear 42 will comeinto driv- 'to disengage the weights I8 of the highspeed ing engagement and nut 19 will be moved toward the left. Sleeve 14will move bearing 83 to compress spring 10 and permit spring 13 toexpand axially and contract radially to release gear 16 from thecountershaft 61. The release of gear 16 from the countershaft will alsorelieve the driving load from gear 28 and weights I8 will have atendency to assume their outer position, but this is counteracted by thethreaded engagement of hub 5I of the low speed gear with nut 36 10 whichwill continue to hold weights I8 in their inner position. It will benoted that weights 86 have a tendency to augment the force of spring 10at the higher speeds and that the disengagement of spring 13 isdependent not only upon the 15 torque load on the countershaft, but isalso dependent upon the speed at which the countershaft 61 is driven.The operation of weights 86 is ...similar to that of weights I8, ,but itshould be noted that although weights I8 are driven by the 20 drivenshaft 22 and are therefore `responsive to driven shaft speed, theweights`86 are directly driven by the driving shaft II through gears 64and 66 and therefore the speed of Weights 86 is responsive to the speedof the driving shaft I I. 25

Positive low speed drive-In descending a hill with a vehicle equippedwith the present transmission, the high speed clutch will alwaysv beengaged because of the reversal of torque; therefore, the engine may notbe used as a brake inv '3o Shaft 22 will be rotated at a higher speedthan 40 either of the second or low speed gears 28 or 42 by reason ofthe high speed clutch engagement, therefore it will overrun both gearsand there will be no driving connection other than through the geartrain mentioned, it being noted 4' that member 54 is free to rotatewithin gear 59 by reason of cut-out portion 50.

In the operation of the automatic gear mechanism, the change from lowgear to intermediate gear is obtained when the speed of the countershaftand the load thereon isvsuch as to cause spring 13 to frictionallyconnect sleeve 69 and gear 16,A whereupon the intermediate gearmechanism again assumes the load. The change from intermediate gear tohighgear is obtained when the centrifugal force of Weights I8 issufcient to overcome the axial thrust'force of nut 36 whereupon the nutis forced toward the right and the weights I8 engage the frictionalplates I4 and I6 and the high speed direct connection is established. 60

` Although a preferred embodiment of the invention hasaoeen illustratedand described, it is to be'understood that the invention is illustrativeonly and is not limited to the form shown and described, or otherwise,except by the terms of the 65' following claims.

What is claimed is: l. In a variable speed transmission, a drivingshaft, a driven shaft, means for vconnecting the shafts in a high speedgear ratio including a 70 crutch responsive to the speed of one or the,75

To this end, teeth 55 are formed on gear 35 shafts, means for connectingthe shafts in a low speed ratio, means responsive to torque reaction ofthe intermediate gear means and directly operated thereby forcontrolling thehigh gear connecting means, means associated with the lowspeed gear means and acting upon the high speed clutch for controllingthe same, and torque retion clutch responsive to the speed of one oftheshafts, means for connecting the shafts in a low speed ratio, meansresponsive to torque reaction of 'the intermediate gear means anddirectly operated thereby for controlling the high gear connectingmeans, means associated with .the low speed gear means and acting uponthe high speed clutch for controlling the same, and means including anut having a threaded connection with the low speed gear means anddirectly movable thereby into contact with the intermediate speed clutchto disengage the same upon an increase of load on the low speed gearmeans.

3. In a variable speed transmission,- a driving shaft, a driven shaft,a-counter shaft, means for connecting the driving and driven shafts in ahigh speed ratio, means including a speed responsive clutch and thecounter shaft for con-y necting the driving and driven shafts in' anintermediate gear ratio, means including the countershaft for connectingthe driving and driven shafts in a low speed ratio, torque responsivemeans operated by the low and intermediate gear means and acting uponthe high speed gear connecting means for controlling the same, and meanson the countershaft operated by the low speed gear and acting upon theintermediate speed gear clutch for controlling the same.

ratio, torque responsive means operated by the low and intermediate gearmeans and acting upon the high speed gear clutch for'controlling thesame, and means on the countershaft operated by the low speed gear andacting upon the intermediate speed gear clutch for controlling the same.y

5. In a variable speed transmission, a driving `shaft, a driven shaft, acountershaft, means for connecting the driving and driven shafts in a lhigh speed ratio, means including a' clutch re-` sponsive to drivingshaft speed' on the countershaft for connecting the driving and drivenshafts in an intermediate gear ratio, means including the countershaftfor connecting the driving and driven shafts in a low speed ratio,torque responsive means operated by the low and intermediate gear meansfor controlling the high speed gear connecting means, and a sleeveslidable on the countershaft having a threaded connection with the lowspeed gear for controlling the intermediate speed gear clutch.

6. In an automatic variable speed transmission, a driving shaft, adriven shaft, means including a clutch responsive to driven shaft speedfor 5 connecting the shafts in high speed ratio, means including aclutch responsive to driving shaft speed for connecting-.theshafts in anintermediate speed ratio, means for connecting the q shafts in a lowspeed ratio, torque responsive means operated by both the intermediateand low speed gear means and acting upon the high speed clutch forcontrolling the same, and torque responsive means operated by the lowspeed gear and acting upon the intermediate speed.clutch for controllingthe same. i

7. In an automatic variable speed transmission, a driving shaft, adriven shaft, means including al clutch responsive to driven shaft speedfor connecting the shafts in high speed ratio, means including afriction clutch for connecting the shafts in an intermediate speedratio, means for connecting the shafts in a low speed ratio, torqueresponsive means having a threaded connection .with both theintermediateand low speed gear v means for controlling the high speedclutch, and

means operated by the lowv speed gear for disconnecting the intermediatespeed clutch at a predetermined'load resistance on the low speed gearmeans.

8. In an automatic transmission, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, afriction clutch for connecting the shafts in ahigh`A speed gear ratio,centrifugal Weights associated with the driven shaft for controlling theclutch, acounter shaft,

gear means includingan overrunning clutch for connecting the driving anddriven shafts around the high speed clutch in an intermediate speedratio, means including an overrunning clutch for connecting the drivingand driven shafts through the countershaft around the clutch in a lowspeed ratio, said intermediate speed means including a friction clutchfor operatively connecting the rgears with the counter shaft, torqueresponsive means operated -by the low speed gear means for t necting thedriving-and driven shafts around the high Aspeed clutch in anintermediate speed ratio, means including an voverrunning clutch forconnecting the driving and driven shafts through the counter shaftaround the clutch in a low speed ratio, said intermediate speed meansincluding a friction clutch for operatively connecting the gears 'withthe countershaft, torque responsive means associated with the low speedgear means for controlling the intermediate gear centrifugal weightspivotally mounted on the counter shaft and coacting with the low speedtorque responsive means for controlling the effect of the low speed geartorque responsive means.

10. In an automatic transmission, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, afriction clutch for connecting the shafts in a high speed gear ratio,

centrifugal weights associated with the driven shaft for controlling theclutch, a counter shaft,-

gear means including an overrunning clutch for connecting the drivingand driven shafts around thehigh speed clutch in an intermediate speedratio, means including an overrunning clutch for connecting thedrivingand driven shafts through;

the countershaft around the clutch in a low speed ratio, saidintermediatey speed'means including a friction clutch for operativelyconnecting the gears with the counter shaft, torque responsive meansoperated by the low speed gear means for controlling the intermediategear clutch, means operated by both the low and intermediate speed thecountersha'ft is increased.

11. In an automatic variable speed transmis sion, a driving shaft, adriven shaft, a coimter shaft, means for connecting the driving anddriven-shafts in high, low and intermediate speed ratios, torqueactuated means ony the driven shaft operated by both the low andintermediate speed ratio means yfor disengaging the high speedconnecting means, and torque actuated means.`on the counter shaftoperated by the low gear means for disconnecting the intermediate speedratio connecting means.

12. In an automatic variable speed transmission, a driving shaft, adriven shaft, a counter shaft, means for connecting the driving anddriven shafts in high, low and intermediate speed ratios, torqueactuated means on the driven shaft operated by both the low andintermediate speed ratio means for disengaging the high speed connectingmeans, said intermediate speed connecting means including a gear havingasleeve rotatably mounted on-the counter shaft, an expanding clutch insaid sleeve for connecting the gear to the counter' shaft and torqueactuated means on the counter shaft operated by said low speed gear forcontrolling the expanding clutch. 25

ROMEO M. NARDONE.

